Anthropic expects profit this quarter ahead of potential $2 trillion IPO

The AI company's revenue jumped 14-fold to $11.5 billion in Q2, while annualised revenue reached $65 billion in July as CEO Dario Amodei urged the industry to slow AI development

Anthropic has told a group of investors that it expects to remain profitable this quarter, strengthening its case for a potential blockbuster initial public offering (IPO). This comes as the investors remain concerned about the huge costs associated with developing artificial intelligence models and the recent risks associated with the technology.

 

The Claude maker expects its adjusted operating income to remain positive for a second consecutive quarter, according to a report by the Financial Times. The measure excludes expenses including stock-based compensation.

 

The development would mark a significant milestone for the five-year-old AI company as it prepares for a potential public listing. Anthropic has selected Nasdaq as the venue for its IPO, which could value the company at $2 trillion or more, the FT reported.

 

Anthropic revenue surges

The company's financial performance has accelerated sharply as demand for its AI models has grown. Anthropic recorded adjusted operating profit in the second quarter, while revenue increased 14-fold from a year earlier to $11.5 billion.

 

Its annualised revenue reached $65 billion at the end of July, up from $9 billion at the end of last year.

 

Anthropic's gross margins are above 80 per cent before accounting for revenue shared with distribution partners such as Amazon and the costs associated with training its models, according to people cited by FT. 

 

The figures will be closely watched by prospective investors because frontier AI companies have faced questions over whether rapidly rising revenue can keep pace with the enormous cost of computing infrastructure and model development.

 

Analysts are forecasting that Anthropic could end the year with annualised revenue of about $120 billion and approach three times that level by the end of 2027.

IPO plans take shape

Anthropic had been expected to release its IPO prospectus last week but instead shared documents with a small group of investors and plans to take questions from them before making the documents public.

 

The potential listing would also come at a particularly sensitive point for the sector.

AI safety debate adds uncertainty

Anthropic Chief Executive Dario Amodei has recently called for the AI industry to slow the pace at which it develops increasingly capable models, warning that the technology could advance faster than society's ability to manage its risks.

 

In an essay published on Saturday, Amodei argued for measures to "pace" frontier AI development, including greater independent evaluation of AI systems. Anthropic has said it will allow third-party evaluators permanent, employee-level access to its systems as part of the proposed safety framework. 

 

His call was echoed by OpenAI’s Sam Altman, while xAI chief Elon Musk has also backed a slower approach.